Sunday Sayings (July 31st)




"To love oneself is the beginning of a lifelong romance." 
                               Oscar Wilde 

Musing Monday (July 25th)



Musing Mondays is a bookish meme hosted by MizB on Should be reading.
This week’s musing asks…
Do you need to have your owned books out where you can see them, or are you okay with them being stored away?

I can't stand to pack books away. That's evident by the mounds of books around my room. My bedroom, aka the Brain Cave, has a book shelf and then stacks throughout the room. Not the best places for books. I am an odd reader though. I don't hold on to books unless they really, really leave a mark on me. Then I have an uncontrollable urge to push them on to the people I love so they don't stay very long. Now that I have a Kindle I've kind of cut down on the book storage issue. (For those of you who say I love to hold a book, I was right there with you but have quickly grown to love my Kindle. Oh and if you just have to hold a book check out The Click Heard Round the World for an awesome cover project). 

I tend to trade out my books for other books at my favorite little used book store, Book and CD Hut, to support my own book habit and to support the local economy (small town USA needs your help). I've also thought about participating in a BookCrossing which is a way to connect others with books. The idea of leaving a book in a coffee shop, a laundromat, public bathroom, or even on top of a car for someone else to get the joy of reading really gets me excited. Yes, I know I'm a geek and I'm loving it. 

As for the original question? I never pack books up. It's like stifling a person in a box to me. I have my beloved keepers and I have my beloved "who's going to read this next" stacks. All in all I'm a happy with my arrangement and my relationship with my books. 

What about you? Do you display your make believe worlds proudly for all to see? or Do you keep them safe in a climate controlled box? Either way, happy reading everyone! 

PLEASE LEAVE A COMMENT with either the link to your own Musing Mondays post, or share your answer in a comment here (if you don’t have a blog). Thanks! 

PS: CMASH has a great book giveaway for MY RUBY SLIPPERS
THE ROAD BACK TO KANSAS over at CMASH Loves to Read  Go check it out. She's got some great book reviews as well! 

Social Media Googled (Google Invite anyone?)

Social media has transformed our lives. For the better and for the worse. With great power comes great responsibility. It is what we make of it. I never was a big Myspace person. Other than getting to play music and changing my code weekly I never really got the point of it as a social media. (Yes, I got to know many lonely people who wanted to make friends from a far away land if only I'd send money). I remember getting my Facebook invite, going to it and scratching my head. I didn't get it. It was so much different than Myspace. I mean all I could do was list what I was doing or thinking at that moment...and get some little flower kid. Over time more and more of my "people" got on Facebook and it got to be fun. I don't participate in all the app requests, questions, or any kind of  -Ville whatsoever. But I've enjoyed it. I Twitter as well but only for my blog, books, and geek interests. Facebook...personal; Twitter...geek/book/work related. Now Google comes along with some to make up for the Buzz fiasco. Google+

I've never kept it a big secret that I am a Google worshiper. I love Google applications. Yes I know all the cons to Google and the evils of their ways but I have to say the good outweighs the bad. I'm a busy woman...most of the time...ok I'm a woman who can't always get all her ducks in a row when leaving the house. Google let's me store all my documents I'm working on in the clouds and I can even share it with others to work on when I'm not with them. For someone who likes to do interviews, polls, writing works and needs collaboration from a state away, Google's got my back. So while I was not apart of the Buzz incident I have been given the opportunity to give Google+ a whirl. It's different in many ways. I'm still trying to find my way around. You have more control over finding people. This could be good or bad. It's in the testing stages so this could change or not. At this point, who knows. I do like that you can have little Huddles and chat with a group of friends or coworkers. Great for collaborative work or just catching up with everyone. You have Circles which you drag and drop contacts to so that you can keep up with everyone. I'm only hours into it and have a lot to learn. I think I'm going to approach this one as a networking platform....much like I did with Twitter.

What is it about social media that we all think we need to be in on it? For me, I live in the sticks...well, on top of the sticks in the Bluegrass of Kentucky. It's beautiful. Having lived on the East Coast my entire youth, I love the fresh air, green fields, mountains, and overall atmosphere. But there is very little networking and even smaller amounts of fellow book bloggers or writers. I've been learning a lot from fellow bloggers and Tweeters about the business. I found many contacts and tons of information  I wouldn't have found if I hadn't been "out there". As for Facebook, I use it for my personal contacts. Having lived somewhere else for my school years, I use it to keep up with my friends and family that live so far away. I have a relationship with my nephew only because of Facebook who attends school in New York and lives in Pa when he's forced to go back to my brothers. I use my social media for good and not evil. I've been protective with who I let in and what information I give out. It's all in how you use it. I do spring cleaning occasionally on my friends list. I think we all need to do that with out contact lists in every aspect from time to time.



So what is that you use social media for? What have you found to be the pros and cons? If you could change anything about it, what would it be? What are your pet peeves? Which is the best social media in your opinion & why?


To reward you for answering (or punish you depending on how you want to look at it) I'm giving out 5 invites to Google+ . Here's how it works. Get an entry for each of the following.


Answer the questions above.
Follow this blog.
Follow on Twitter. (the little buttons over there on the side)
Reblog this. (Leave a link in the comments)
Tweet this with #catgoogles included


That's a possible 5 entries! So get busy and come Google+ with me.


I'll pick a winner using randomizer.com on Monday, July 20th and post winners here.


So get busy and let's get our Google on people! 

Musing Mondays (July 11)


Musing Mondays is a bookish meme hosted by MizB on Should be reading.
This week’s musing asks…
Do you think it makes you NOT (or less) “well-read” if there are certain genres that you won’t read because you KNOW you won’t enjoy them? Why?
I work at an institution of higher learning (aka a community college) and most people that wander the halls around here read a lot of academic pursuits and intellectual fonder. Others read from the book group's reading list. Other's Oprah's book list. A few are die hard genre specific readers. What is the measure of "well-read". Like MizB suggests there's so many genres out there to read and most of us pick a genre and read everything we can get our hands on in that genre. I personally go through reading spurts. For a period of time I'll read nothing but that genre. A couple of summers ago I read nothing but PR. In high school, I only read dark mysteries. Now I read psychological thrillers. Once I only read non-fiction self-help books. To be considered well-read, I think you'd have to look at what you were considering. Are you well read in all genres or in a particular genre? I have friends who are well-read in PR, others who are well-read in cozy mysteries, yet others are well-read in the classics. To be well-read all around I think you'd have to read ALL types of genres but you can be well-read in a particular genre or field. As for me, I think I'm on the way to be well-read. I take spurts, as I've said, and when I come to the end years of my life I'm pretty sure I'll be well-read. As for now, I'm a novice. I won't read something I KNOW I won't like (i.e. shapeshifting stories or the ilidad) just because it'll make me well-read. I read for my enjoyment and only my enjoyment. Years of college courses and required reading has left me reading only want I want not what would make me look good...make me look educated. I have more education than I'll ever use. Maybe that makes me less "well-read" but life is short and there are way too many books in the world for me to worry about being well-read. I read well and that's all that I'm concerned about now. Perhaps, sometime in the future I'll worry about my intellectual pursuits of well-readness but for now, I'm happy with having a book no matter how silly or uneducated it may seem to enjoy and get lost in. 

What about you? What do you think about it all? 

PLEASE LEAVE A COMMENT with either the link to your own Musing Mondays post, or share your answer in a comment here (if you don’t have a blog). Thanks! 

Sunday Sayings





Believe in yourself! Have faith in your abilities! Without a humble but reasonable confidence in your own powers you cannot be successful or happy.
Norman Vincent Peale 

Sunday Sayings (July 3rd)



"Freedom is nothing else but a chance to be better" 
~ Albert Camus